starting
Americanadjective
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being a price, amount, player lineup, etc., fixed at the beginning.
If you get hired, what will your starting salary be?
-
setting out on a course of action; taking the first steps in an activity.
The idea of the frosh pub mingle is for you to meet your fellow starting students.
-
coming to life, becoming active, or beginning to move.
She listened for the sound of a starting car, but all was still.
Etymology
Origin of starting
First recorded in 1810–15; start ( def. ) + -ing 2 ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The researchers used this ultrasoft behavior as one of their starting assumptions.
From Science Daily • May 19, 2026
Mercedes sees robots starting with highly repetitive logistics-type functions.
From Barron's • May 18, 2026
The person fled police in a vehicle, starting a pursuit that led into South Los Angeles, ending near a parking structure in the 900 block of West 85th Street, police said.
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026
Britt said she had visited one of Swatch's London stores on Friday night and saw security "starting to lose control a little bit" as the crowds increased in size ahead of the watch's release.
From BBC • May 18, 2026
“Look,” she said, tapping her clipboard, “trivia is starting in five minutes. If you want to help me, fine, and if you don’t want to, you can go back to that.”
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
